Southern California -- this just in

Alleged driver in Bryan Stow attack won't be charged

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said Wednesday that it won't charge a woman arrested along with the two men accused of beating San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow.

Dorene Sanchez drove the suspects from the stadium after they beat Stow, authorities say. But prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence to charge her. Sources said she is cooperating with authorities.

Louie Sanchez and Marvin Norwood pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of mayhem and assault in the March 31 attack.

Prosecutors say they have made incriminating statements in the case.

"This is not an identification case. There are statements made by both defendants that will be used in the prosecution," Deputy Dist. Atty. Frank Santoro said. “I would call them admissions.”

Louie Sanchez and Norwood showed little emotion as they appeared in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday in connection with the attack that left Stow with brain damage. Stow was the third Giants fan they attacked at the opening day game, prosecutors said.

Sanchez's attorney withdrew a motion Wednesday to reduce his bail. Both suspects pleaded not guilty and are being held in lieu of $500,000 bail.

The pair were arrested last month along with Dorene Sanchez, who is Louie Sanchez's sister and who testified before a grand jury about the case.

Prosecutors said in court papers that Stow tried to escape a violent man attacking him and his friends outside the stadium, but that his assailant chased him down.

Prosecutors allege that Louie Sanchez shoved Stow and punched one of Stow's friends after the opening day game. After the assault, Stow, who was dressed in a Giants shirt, continued to walk with his friends toward the edge of the stadium parking lot, with Sanchez and his friend Norwood in pursuit, prosecutors wrote.

Sanchez caught up with the group and punched another of Stow's friends, knocking him to the ground, the court document said. As Stow faced Norwood, Sanchez surprised him from behind and punched him in the side of the head, prosecutors allege.

Witnesses heard Stow's head hit the concrete and saw it bounce when he fell, prosecutors wrote. Sanchez then kicked the unconscious Stow and Norwood kicked him and stood over him yelling, "Who else wants to fight?" according to prosecutor Michele Hanisee in a court filing.

The investigation became a source of controversy after LAPD Chief Charlie Beck named another man, Giovanni Ramirez, as the initial suspect in the attack.

But detectives in the department's elite Robbery-Homicide Division later arrested Sanchez and Norwood.

Sanchez is also charged with battery for allegedly hitting a woman with a soda and pushing another man.

Stow, 42, a paramedic from Santa Cruz, remains hospitalized in San Francisco and has been responding to more commands and lifting his arms and legs in recent days, according to his family.

On their website, the family said Stow has been "more alert and responsive" in the last week.

"He lifted his left leg slightly when asked, he raised his left arm everytime we asked if we could hold his hand," they wrote.

The family recounted a time this week when his sister, Bonnie Stow, asked the paramedic if she could kiss him.

"He puckered his lips. The final time when she was leaving, Bonnie asked again for a kiss. Bry turned his head towards her, puckered his lips for the kiss, then turned his head back," the family wrote. "The nurse was shocked and excited to see that!"

Doctors said they were still trying to determine the extent of Stow's brain damage.